The Meadows School of the Arts, formally established in 1969 at SMU in Dallas, has achieved prominence as one of the foremost arts education institutions in the United States. Learn more about SMU Meadows

Meadows serves the public as a significant cultural center by presenting more than 400 events annually for the Dallas community and surrounding region. Read more about upcoming events and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, "This Week at Meadows".

The Meadows School of the Arts, formally established in 1969 at SMU in Dallas, has achieved prominence as one of the foremost arts education institutions in the United States. Learn more about SMU Meadows

Meadows serves the public as a significant cultural center by presenting more than 400 events annually for the Dallas community and surrounding region. Read more about upcoming events and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, "This Week at Meadows".

Areas of Study

Steve Woods

Steve Woods

Professor, Head of Stage Design

The Women of Troy, Meadows School of the Arts, photo by Linda Blasé

Lighting designer Steve Woods began his career at the Barter Theater of Virginia. Over the years he has enjoyed international success at the Festival Blues Sur Seine and Festival de L’Imaginaire in Paris, and has created designs for productions in Berlin, Moscow, London, Athens, Taipei, Budapest, the XIX Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and dozens of additional locations around the world.

Credits include work with the José Limón Dance Company and Compañia Nacional de Danza (Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City). Woods began designing for the José Limón Dance Company in 1988 and has created designs for many Limón masterworks, including There Is a Time, The Moor’s Pavane, Traitor, Missa Brevis, The Winged and others. When the Limón Company performed at the White House, Woods did the lighting for both The Moor’s Pavane and A Choreographic Offering. For Compañia Nacional de Danza, Woods created designs for Esquina Bajan and El P ájaro de Fuego as well as for the John Cranko ballets Eugene Onegin and Romeo and Juliet. Additional work in Europe includes Psalm for Introdans in the Netherlands, and the musical Blind Lemon Blues, performed in Switzerland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In addition, Woods has designed works by Alwin Nikolais, Donald McKayle, Garth Fagan, Phyllis Lamhut, Carlos Orta, and Daniel Nagrin, among others.

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare Theatre Company

In New York City, his work has been seen at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Juilliard School, Theater for a New Audience (for which he earned a Lucille Lortel Award for the production of Henry V), Riverside Church, Ohio Theater, York Theater Company, Joyce Theater, Ice Factory Festival, Soho Think Tank, Central Park Summer Stage, the Guggenheim Museum, Masters of American Dance, and St. Mark’s Theater. Recent Off-Broadway projects include Neil Young’s Greendale and Alan Govenar and Akin Babatunde’s Blind Lemon Blues.